Piracy advocates seeking Pirate Bay alternatives

Filesharers are beginning to seek alternatives to websites such as the Pirate Bay to illegally download games and other media, a study has claimed.

As reported by the BBC, the research conducted by Sweden’s Lund University found that there had been a 40 per cent rise in 15-to-25 years olds using virtual private networks to download content anonymously since 2009.

VPNs are described as secure networks, often used in business, to privately share files behind heavily encrypted firewalls, making it tougher to track down pirates.

"VPNs could become the next front in the battle against piracy," said music analyst Mark Mulligan.

"Some providers have already starting putting anonymity systems in place, such as not tracking IP addresses and deleting logs after seven days."

The news of the rise in VPN usage comes after internet services providers in the UK such as Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk were told to block access to The Pirate Bay website, after the High Court had ruled it had greatly infringed on copyright laws.

The lawsuit was brought about by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which said that such sites “destroy jobs in the UK and undermine investment in new British artists.”

Despite the block, the filesharing website has defied the courts and has encouraged users to find alternatives to download content illegally, as well as telling pirates to send letters to local MPs and ISPs in protest of the move.